Prep hockey heads into Christmas break after the majority of teams played in holiday tournaments this past week. Neutral Zone had scouts in attendance for nearly all the holiday tournaments and got a much better sense of where each team stands now heading into break. We based this weeks poll on a combination of record/resume and put a bonus on quality wins. We are not trying to predict what teams will ultimately make the Elite 8 or even which teams we feel are the best; we select the teams we believe are most deserving up to this point in the season.
There was a lot of movement this last week’s poll given most teams played three to four games this week and had major shifts in their records. Brunswick, Kent, Belmont Hill and Canterbury are new entrants to this weeks poll and
1. Avon Old Farms (8-0-1) – While the Winged Beavers did not ultimately win their conference tournament; they were tied after regulation and after the NEPSAC overtime leaving the game as a tie in the official record. Until Avon loses; it’s hard to knock them off the top spot. This is a team that has real depth and balance up and down the lineup; nineteen players have found the stat sheet this season five of which are averaging over a point per game and starting netminder have over a 95% save percentage. Their top six forwards are their strength this season averaging over four goals per game but they also have a depth and can roll three and four lines.
2. Holderness School (8-0-0) – The Bulls are the only team left in prep hockey without a loss or a tie. They had a few close calls at the Lawrence Groton tournament having to go into overtime to beat Pomfret on the opening night and then coming back to beat Groton in the final game to win the tournament. Their signature win came on Friday night in the semi-final against undefeated Cushing where they not only won the game 2-1 but outplayed them througout and outshot them by a wide margin. Holderness has good team speed and structure, a potent offense averaging over seven goals per game and a dangerous power play led by Vermont commit Caeden Herrington.
3. Kimball Union (9-1-0) – The Wildcats went into arguably the most competitive field of the Holiday Tournaments and won all four games including the championship against perennial prep powerhouse Salisbury School. From the eye test, Kimball was the best team top to bottom that we saw throughout the tournaments; they are big on the backend, skilled up front, they have team speed, physicality and no noticeable weakpoints. They have several of the top players in the league in Sam LeDrew, Jack Sadowski and Andrew O’Sullivan and also the depth to roll four lines. They had one stumble to Rivers earlier in the season but since then have won eight straight games by a +31 scoring margin.
4. Brunswick (5-1-2) – Brunswick lost the first game of the season but since then has gone 5-0-2 with arguably the most challenging schedule of any team in the league. They have signature wins over St. Andrews, #6 Kent and a big win against the home team St. Sebastians to win the Kevin Mutch Championship. Brunswick might be the best skating team in prep this year with a host of smaller, high-pace, high-energy forwards who are a pest to play against. They are getting scoring up and down the lineup and don’t rely on their top line to do run the offense. They are great on special teams, they have a speed and grit factor that has been tough for opponents to matchup against and are getting quality starts from goaltender Will Baker.
5. Cushing Academy (7-1-0) – The Penguins have a lot of talent; arguably one of the best rosters in prep hockey starting in net with Arizona State commit Marko Bilic. They have an excellent top four defense and were able to hold the top scoring offense in the league in Holderness to just two goals in the Lawrence-Groton semi final game. They are second in the league in goals against averaging an impressive 1.37 GAA through eight games this season and yet still manufacturing plenty of offense scoring four or more goals in seven of their eight games. There is an argument Cushing deserves better in the poll and could easily be the #3 ranked team but given they have only played one ranked opponent thus far and got beat moved them down below the tournament winners in KUA and Brunswick.
6. Kent School (7-2-1) – While the Lions have two losses on the season; we couldn’t hold them below the remaining one-loss teams given the strength of their schedule and the quality of their wins. Two wins against Frederick Gunn, a win on the road against Salisbury, a win against Loomis in the Avon Christmas tournament against ranked Loomis and double overtime victory against #1 Avon in the finals to capture the title. Kent is a big, mature, disciplined team who is getting scoring from up and down the lineup, particularly from captain Gio DiGulian who is averaging over a goal per game. They have won in a variety of ways this season in low scoring, tight checking matchups (Frederick Gunn and Salisbury) and can also win high scoring, back and forth games (Loomis Chaffee). Their two losses on the season came earlier in the month against #3 KUA and #6 Brunswick.
7. St. Georges (6-1-0) – St. George’s enters break undefeated in the month of December and leading prep hockey with a 1.28 GAA average through seven games led by Maine commit goaltender Ryder Shea. They ran the table in their holiday tournament outscoring opponents 28-4. They have one of the top prospects in the league in defenseman Everett Baldwin (Providence commit) and three relentless lines of forwards up front who are averaging over seven goals per game in their last six games. They’ll head to Joshua Weeks New Years tournament at Tabor after break where they’ll face stronger competition.
8. Belmont Hill (5-1-1) – Belmont Hill opened up the season with a tough loss to ISL rival Noble & Greenough but have since been unbeaten and enter break after winning the Lawrenceville Holiday Tournament. Their championship win was a repeat of last years final against the host team after taking down Upper Canada College in a shootout the day before. This year’s team might not be as deep as years past but their top two lines can play with anyone in the league, they have quality goaltending and are well-coached and disciplined. They have a 1.50 GAA in their last six games since the season opener.
9. Loomis Chaffee (7-2-0) – Loomis was handed their first two losses of the season at the Avon Christmas Tournament to #6 Kent and a solid Berkshire team to move their record to 7-2-0. With that being said, they are a quality skating team, they are balanced in all three phases and have quality wins over #4 Brunswick, Frederick Gunn and #10 Canterbury. Their win quality is among the best in the league but the road doesn’t get any easier as they return from break with a matchup against #6 Kent followed by Deerfield and Hotchkiss.
10. Canterbury School (5-2-1) – The Saints were crowned Barber Holiday Tournament champions with a 4-1 win over Middlesex to advance their record to 5-2-1. They have three quality wins on their resume over Berkshire, Hotchkiss and St. Mark’s and their losses were both against talented teams in #9 Loomis and honorable mention Salisbury. This is a team that is tough to score against giving up just one or less goals against in five of their eight games. They only allowed two gaols against in their three games this past weekend to win the Barber Tournament. They return from break at the EG Watkins tournament where they’ll face #5 Cushing which will be a great test for where Canterbury stacks up against the top teams.
Honorable Mentions: Salisbury, St. Sebastian’s, Deerfield, Andover, Berkshire
